Personal cleansing products have traditionally been marketed in a variety of forms such as bar soaps, creams, lotions, and gels. These cleansing formulations have attempted to satisfy a number of criteria to be acceptable to consumers. These criteria include cleansing effectiveness, skin feel, mildness to skin, hair, and ocular mucosae, and lather volume. Ideal personal cleansers should gently cleanse the skin or hair, cause little or no irritation, and not leave the skin or hair overly dry after frequent use. Personal cleansing products are frequently used with, or marketed in the form of, articles that employ a substrate or other implement that carries a cleansing material or is used to deliver a cleansing material to the skin or hair.
Personal cleansing cloths have become a popular cleansing product among consumers. Such products generally include a water insoluble substrate material that is impregnated with a cleansing composition. Some cloths further contain conditioning agents that moisturize the skin and/or hair, in addition to cleansing the skin and/or hair. The personal cleansing cloths are typically available as either wet or substantially dry cleansing cloths. Wet cleansing cloths are packaged to maintain the cloths in pre-moistened form and the cloths are then simply removed from its packaging and wiped against the skin and/or hair to cleanse the skin and/or hair. Substantially dry cleansing cloths are available that require a consumer to wet the cloths with water, manipulate the cloths to generate lather, and then wipe the cloths against the skin and/or hair to cleanse the skin and/or hair.
Attempts have been made to improve the cleansing and exfoliation performance of such cloths, primarily wet cleansing cloths, by incorporating raised areas on the cloths usually in the form of small discrete dots formed by polymeric or plastic-type materials. However, these products have not been well-received by many consumers who find them to be too harsh and abrasive on the skin.
There has thus been a desire to develop a personal cleansing cloth that provides effective cleansing and exfoliation, while not being too harsh or abrasive on the skin and/or hair.